The
NXT ChampionshipNXT Championship is a professional wrestling world championship[1]
created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion
WWEWWE for their developmental brand NXT. Introduced on July 1, 2012, it
is the top championship of NXT.
Seth RollinsSeth Rollins was the inaugural
champion. The title is currently held by Aleister Black, who is in his
first reign.

Contents

1 History

1.1 Inaugural tournament

2 Reigns
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

History[edit]

The inaugural NXT Champion Seth Rollins

The longest reigning NXT Champion Finn Bálor

The championship was first introduced on the July 1, 2012, edition of
NXT when NXT Commissioner Dusty Rhodes announced a "Gold Rush"
tournament, featuring four developmental roster NXT Superstars and
four main roster
WWEWWE Superstars competing to be crowned as the
inaugural NXT Champion in a knockout system format, replacing the FCW
Florida Heavyweight Championship that was retired in the same month
after merger of FCW. The first NXT Champion was crowned on the July
26, 2012, taping of NXT (aired August 29), with
Seth RollinsSeth Rollins defeating
Jinder MahalJinder Mahal in the tournament final.[2][3] On November 19, 2016, at
NXT TakeOver: Toronto,
Samoa JoeSamoa Joe became the first performer to hold
the championship on more than one occasion.[4]
On April 1, 2017, at WrestleMania Axxess, NXT General Manager William
Regal announced that all of the NXT title belts would be redesigned.
The new title belts were unveiled at NXT TakeOver: Orlando that same
night and given to the winners of their respective matches. Coming in
line with the top championships of the main roster, the new design
features removable side plates with the
WWEWWE logo as default plates,
which are customized with the current champion's logos as a similarity
of the name plate feature.[5]
Inaugural tournament[edit]

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Richie Steamboat
Pin

Leo Kruger

Richie Steamboat

Jinder Mahal
Sub

Bo Dallas

Jinder Mahal
Sub

Jinder Mahal

Seth Rollins
Pin

Seth Rollins
Pin

Drew McIntyre

Seth Rollins
Pin

Michael McGillicutty

Justin Gabriel

Michael McGillicutty
Pin

Reigns[edit]
Main article: List of NXT Champions
As of April 9, 2018, there have been 15 championship reigns with 13
different champions. The inaugural champion was Seth Rollins. Samoa
Joe and
Shinsuke NakamuraShinsuke Nakamura have the most reigns with two. Finn Bálor's
reign as champion is the longest at 292 days (
WWEWWE recognizes it at
293), while Samoa Joe's second reign is the shortest at 14 days. Bo
Dallas holds the record as the youngest champion, winning the title
two days before his 23rd birthday, while
Bobby RoodeBobby Roode is the oldest
champion, winning the title at 39.
Aleister BlackAleister Black is the current champion in his first reign. He won the
title by defeating Andrade "Cien" Almas at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
in New Orleans,
LouisianaLouisiana on April 7, 2018.
See also[edit]